Shopify, our top-rated ecommerce website builder, offers a free tool to help you find a business name. The AI Business Name Generator requests a short prompt before generating you multiple suggestions, all tailored to you.
The Business Name Generator helps you get your online store off the ground, and I’ll walk you through where you can find it and how to use it in this guide.
- Shopify’s Business Name Generator is free to use and you don’t need a Shopify account to use it
- Consider your brand, searchability, and competitors when writing your prompt
- Business name prompts are limited to 120 characters
- You can ask Shopify to generate fresh business name ideas if you’re not happy with the first result
Where Can I Find Shopify’s Business Name Generator?
Shopify’s AI-powered Business Name Generator tool is available from the homepage. Simply hover over “Solutions” in the top navigation bar, and click “Explore free business tools” under the “Start” category.
You don’t need a Shopify account to use the feature.
How To Create the Best Business Name Prompt
The purpose of Shopify’s Business Name Generator is to create business names and check domain availability. For the first step, you’ll be asked to describe your business in the prompt box.
Simply enter a prompt (this can be a few keywords about your business or a one-liner pitch), and click enter to generate business names. If you’re not sure what to write, you can also choose from preset industries for name ideas, such as “home,” “candles,” or “jewelry.”
The tool combines keywords from your prompt, related words, and industry terms to create a name unique for you. But, there are a few things to keep in mind when writing your prompt:
- Understand your brand
- Review the market and your competitors
- Consider searchability
Shopify Business Name Examples
I experimented with different prompts to see what Shopify’s Business Name Generator would suggest. Bear in mind, you’re limited to 120 characters for each prompt.
This is what Shopify generated for a pottery business prompt:
A pottery business that specializes in personalized pet bowls
- Paw-some Pottery
- Paw-sitive Pottery
- Ceramicat
- Furfect
- Pawtastic Pet Pottery
- Pawttery
This is what the tool suggested based on my wedding photographer prompt:
A wedding photographer based in Austin, Texas, who loves to capture the romance and fun of your big day
- Whimsical Wedding Photography
- Whimsy
- Fête
- Austin Wedding Memories
- Delight
- Big Day Bliss Photography
My final test was for a niche stationary company idea:
A sticker company for school supplies
- Sticker Art for Learning
- Doodle
- Pictura
- Stickology
- Customizable Sticker Designs
- Sticker Joy for Education
Shopify would generate 24 business names for each prompt. If you’re not happy with what the tool creates, you can request more suggestions or start over completely. I noticed from my testing that you could use the same prompt again and get fresh results.
How Much Do Shopify's Business Names Cost?
Shopify’s Business Name Generator is a free tool, available to anyone. This means you don’t need a Shopify account to use it.
However, if you want to use this business name with a Shopify store, you’ll need to pay for one of Shopify’s premium plans ($29 to $299 per month). Shopify doesn’t offer a free plan, only a quick three-day free trial.Additionally, you’ll need to pay to register your business name in the US. This can typically range from $10-$300, depending on the state and type of business you want to set up.
Your business name is your identity. It helps customers remember your business and boost brand awareness. On the other hand, your domain name is your website address.
Business names and domain names regularly match, but there can be slight variations, depending on availability. For example, if your business is called “WBE,” your domain name might be “www.wbeshop.com”.
Shopify doesn’t include a custom domain name as part of its website builder plans, so you’ll need to pay for this separately. With Shopify, this can cost around $15 per year for a .com domain name.
How To Choose the Right Business Name
Once you’ve generated some business name ideas with Shopify, how do you know what name to pick? It’ll depend on what suits your business best, but I’ve listed some key considerations below to help you decide:
- Avoid anything too niche – this could limit your business down the line if you expand your inventory or business services
- Ensure it’s memorable – this helps customers recommend you to others and think of your business when they need a certain product
- Make it easy to spell and pronounce –a complex name can make it harder for customers to find you online
- Check if it’s in use already –there could be legal issues if you choose a business name that matches or is similar to another brand (plus it’s confusing!)
- See if it’s suitable for a domain –the closer your domain is to your business name, the easier it is for customers to search for your store
- Make sure it reflects your business – your business name is part of your brand identity, and it’ll be visible on a lot of assets, including your website, logo and product packaging
Should You Use Shopify's Business Name Generator?
Shopify’s Business Name Generator is a great AI-powered free tool for anyone looking to kickstart their business idea and build a brand online. It can be tough to figure out an appropriate or catchy business name, so Shopify provides a helping hand at this stage.
And, I have to say, I was pretty impressed by the variety of business name ideas it generated for me from simple prompts. Just remember to choose a name that best suits your business, isn’t too complex, and is easy to remember. You want customers to return again and again, and recommend you to friends and family!
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